The end of 2015 is nearly upon us and with it comes a suitable opportunity to assess some of the year’s killer tracks – those strokes of house genius that have entranced warehouses, super-clubs, beaches and car parks alike, all over the world. It’s also a good moment to crystal gaze what cuts should be doing damage in 2016; some of the early runners ‘n’ riders are already starting to assemble.
Your guide to 2015’s biggest house moments, and 2016’s future underground hits is as follows….
Denney – Low Frequency
A valuable part of Hot Creations’ irrepressible stable, Leeds-associated DJ-producer James Denney led February’s ‘Pimp Out EP’ with this fine, sledgehammer workout. ‘Low Frequency’ hits satisfying lows but it’s the track’s generally gritty ghetto-swing that commands attention. Successfully cutting moody bottom-end with skanking 4-4, flashes of acid and an infectious B-boy riff, it’s no wonder Pete Tong and Jamie Jones were hooked from the start. The former made ‘Low Frequency’ an Essential New Tune on Radio 1; the latter premiered it during his headline slot at September 2014’s TomorrowWorld festival near Atlanta and dizzied thousands. Such patronage has helped establish the record as hysteria-inducing monster over the many months since its release.
Eats Everything feat. Tiga vs Audion & Ron Costa – Dancing (Again!)
An unholy alliance of barbed and wired house producers culminating in the unforgettable paranoid-jack of ‘Dancing (Again!)’ Boisterous Bristolian Eats Everything (AKA Dan Pearce) takes the lead here, the gloriously distorted peaks and troughs of his summer outing sparking frenzied global support – support undiminished as we now hit winter. The story behind the track is a colourful one, Pearce creating crowd pandemonium by mixing Breach’s ‘Jack’ vocal over his own version of Ron Costa’s ‘Gez Uri’ at a Bugged Out Weekender several years ago, responding to subsequent fan mail by refining his experiment in the studio, rinsing and re-rinsing his awesome customised edit to insatiable dancefloors everywhere and then, as ‘Jack’ reached mainstream saturation, swapping in the acapella of Tiga & Audion’s newly released ‘Lets Go Dancing’ (with the former’s permission). A few further tweaks and ‘Dancing (Again)!’ was loudly in business. Inevitably, perhaps, Disclosure signed the cut to their Method White imprint. What do they know?
Enzo Siffredi – Sometimes
UK-based Siffredi, synonymous with the Minimal Kids club night and Wired Music label, turned out this fizzing joint back in May and how it flew. The track promptly topped the Traxsource charts for a month, topped Beatport’s Deep House countdown for two, and even commandeered position three in the Beatport Top 100 for several euphoric weeks. Part of a wider EP of the same name, ‘Sometimes’ – co-written by Canada’s Manganaro brothers – is a thoroughly lowdown slice of blues-smoked house fabulousness, complete with snappy handclaps and sweet, rolling drums. Saluted at most of Ibiza’s key closing parties last month, it’s fair to call the lick a bona-fide White Isle anthem and major moment for clubland 2015 in general.
Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons – Vermillion (&Me Remix)
Vermillion was already one of Pete Tong’s Essential New Tunes, flanked by nifty remixes from Jamie Jones, Agoria and Deniz Kurtel, before Berlin sensation &ME turned up and offered his own scandalously good edit for a further (re-)release. It only went and stole the show didn’t it? ‘Vermillion’, taken from Lazarus & Moons long-player Message From The Other Side, is an epic proposition under &ME’s eye. His remix unfurls around eight minutes of exquisitely judged tech-house – deep, vocal, soulful, rising and falling with an intensity only the very, very best house grooves can muster. “I wanted the remix to be all about the groove” &ME adds... nailed that one, then.
Siege – Crunk
To overlay samples of Mary J Blige’s hit R&B single ‘Family Affair’ onto a scorching club production loaded with bass, rapid-fire beats and melodic piano chords was an inspired move by 24-year-old Belgian producer Sieg Motmans. His swaggering cut, ‘Crunk’, follows early house outings such as ‘Roads’, a particular favourite of both Pete Tong and Danny Howard. The Siege discography has only rocketed since then, ‘Crunk’ an explosively uplifting next step that has dominated dancefloors all summer.
ANOTR – Stop The Music
A fresh face for seasoned Amsterdam producers Jesse van der Heijden and Oguzhan, AKA Piotr & Zhan. And a seriously committed cut, just released, that pounds away with sweaty glee. DON’T stop the music. ANOTR wind their diva samples tightly around an intense, tech-y, multi-drum, DJ Pierre-worthy wig-out. Such mighty posturing will surely see ‘Stop The Music’ running riot well into 2016.
Adesse Versions – Wash My Soul
An inventive DJ-producer hailing from Chester, England, discovered by DJ Hell in 2006 and allowed to roam far and wide ever since, Adesse Versions – real name Kevin Gorman – has chalked up smart productions and remixes on labels like Cocoon, Ostgut Ton, Skint and now increasingly cult Scandi house label Local Talk. Latest outing ‘Wash My Soul’ is super-crisp and exciting, puncturing its dynamic deep house soundscape – big drums, dancing hi-hats, taut bass – with a boldly abstract, yet incredibly addictive synth riff. Such sonic sharpness should cut through tasteful 2016 dancefloors like a knife through hot buerre….
Purple Disco Machine & Boris Dlugosch – L.O.V.E
The fuse is long and sparky on this one, ‘L.O.V.E’ starting to fire during the summer and, now, reaching crescendo as we approach the New Year – it’s got all the hallmarks of being a 2016 clubland classic. So what’s so special? Glitterbox resident Purple Disco Machine – AKA Dresden's Tino Piontek - has serious form, previous outings ‘My House’, ‘Move Or Not’, ‘Street Life’ and ‘Soul So Sweet’ all charting highly via Beatport – ‘My House’, in particular, a long-running Deep House number one. Add in Deutsch compatriot Dlugosch, a veteran talent with a knack for giving groovy house workouts credible pop-sheen (consider Keep Pushin’ and Moloko’s remixed ‘Sing It Back’) and those fine vocal samples from Sandra Richardson’s early Seventies soul hit ‘I Feel A Song (In My Heart)’, and you have the basis of a deep and funky disco-house bomb set to explode over the coming months. ‘L.O.V.E’ is very much in the air.
Butch – Dope
Whilst some early reviews have stalled on this, Butch can rest assured that dancefloors everywhere are shaking with San Andreas-like, Richter Scale-busting force. ‘Dope’’s premise is, admittedly, simple but therein lies its power. Mainz man Bulent ‘Butch’ Gurler offers a meaty discography across labels including Noir, Desolat, Visionquest and Cecille, and ‘Dope’ extends its penchant for hypnotic immersion via deep, track-y loops. As both party crowd chit-chat and Cicada sounds pour under loose ‘n’ funky bass-lined tribal drums, it’s hard not to be swept along by Butch’s relentless sense of groove. Seth Troxler certainly was, signing ‘Dope’ to his Play It Say It imprint and placing it at the heart of his recent DJ Kicks compilation.
Tim Deluxe – Tryin’ Find A Way
Perhaps the most house-orientated moment of Deluxe’s majestic new album The Radicle, a dazzling fusion of old-school jazz instrumentation and contemporary DJ thought. ‘Tryin’ To Find A Way’ builds out from the kind of hypno-bounce shuffle that a mid-Nineties MAW would be proud of to a far richer club-scape of melancholic trumpets, delicate pianos and crashing cymbals. This is poignant, atmospheric house head and shoulders above the vast majority of deep dance licks currently being made, and set to stay in hearts and minds well into next year…probably beyond that too. Stunning.
All the above tracks are included on Defected presents Most Rated 2016, out Friday 13 November - buy from iTunes and DStore
